The subject matter disclosed herein relates to turbines and, more particularly, to systems and methods for inspecting turbine components and features.
Some power plant systems, for example, certain nuclear, simple-cycle and combined-cycle power plant systems, employ turbines in their design and operation. These turbines include a number of components (e.g., rotor discs, spacers, turbine buckets, etc.), which during operation are exposed to a range of physical extremes (e.g., temperature gradients, pressure gradients, etc.). As a result of the stresses these extremes impart, turbine components must be periodically inspected to detect surface and subsurface flaws, check component integrity, and ensure safe turbine operation. Typically, during inspection, the turbine is shut down and various components (e.g., rotor discs) are removed for inspection by an inspection device which may perform ultrasonic tests, eddy current tests, web surfacing, imaging, subsurface scanning, and/or other inspection processes on the components and component features (e.g., bore holes, bolt holes, threads, tabs, etc.). In order to inspect these turbine components and features, the inspection device must be positioned, spaced, and oriented relative to the turbine component. Proper orientation and spacing of the inspection device enables accurate, reliable, and reproducible inspection results. Some systems use a hand held inspection device to perform scanning of turbine components and features. These systems rely on a technician to manually measure, space and align the inspection device for each scan of a feature. However, individually locating the inspection device about each turbine component, as in these systems, may be a difficult and time consuming process. Manually locating and operating the inspection device may generate inconsistent results and lengthen the turbine inspection period, particularly with turbine components which have a number of features requiring inspection (e.g., a rotor disc).